Sarah Palin slams Barack Obama for linking her to GOP’s ‘anti-intellectualism’ wing, labels herself ‘rogue’
Reality television personality and former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin has taken a dig at former President Barack Obama in an interview with Newsmax TV that took place on November 14. She made a few strong statements in response to excerpts from Obama's yet-to-be-released memoir ‘A Promised Land’, in which he’s linked her with the "anti-intellectual" wing of the GOP.
According to Raw Story, Obama's book claimed, “Through Palin, it seemed as if the dark spirits that had long been lurking on the edges of the modern Republican Party — xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, paranoid conspiracy theories, an antipathy toward Black and brown folks — were finding their way to the center stage. She had no idea what the hell she was talking about.”
Hitting back at the former president for his opinion of her and the GOP, Palin said, “It’s kind of pleasurable to know that I’ve been living rent-free in his head for 12 years.”
“The movement that he still cannot accept nor understand… that movement was all about giving the voiceless a voice, empowering people who are fed up, want accountability in their government, want a smaller, smarter government, things that he just hasn’t been able to grasp,” she added further.
She also noted that she and Trump were disliked or not care about for being “rogue” figures who threatened the status quo. "It's so real. The GOP establishment, that machine, they don't like anybody going rogue, shaking it up, not taking their turn. So no, they don't like Trump and they never liked me," Palin said
She further accused Obama’s book of overlooking her efforts to diversify GOP, specifically talking about the ‘Mama Grizzlies’, a term joined by her to refer to female candidates she supported during the 2010 US midterm elections.
Palin said, "It's the antithesis of what the left is acting out today. They're choosing people based on gender, based on race, they're creating inequality, when we're saying, 'We can all be a part of this', changing this country into something we can all embrace," according to Newsweek.
Palin gained national prominence in 2008 when she was picked as the running mate by then-Republican presidential candidate John McCain. However, they lost against Obama and his VP pick Joe Biden.
Even though she has retired from politics, she continues to offer her opinion about the election. In an interview with Fox News, when asked if there was anything she would have done back in the day to get coverage similar to what California Senator Kamala Harris is receiving, Palin said, “I would not have prostituted myself in terms of changing any of my positions in order to garner better press,” reported Daily Beast.
She further noted that had she agreed to concede some of her “convictions”, she would have got better coverage in the mainstream media. She even argued that the press treats the Democratic candidates like “delicate pieces of China” as opposed to the treatment she received during her 2008 run.
Palin served as the ninth Governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009. She was also the first Republican female nominee for the Vice President of the United States.